One of the great things about satellite radio, unlike regular (car) radio, is the enormous range of stations (and subsequently songs) available. And with such diversity comes the occasional re-discovery of a song once loved, but somehow entirely forgotten, like one I heard the other day – “Beach Baby,” a one-hit wonder from (the surprisingly British) band The First Class.
One of the first songs I recall in my “yute” (as my cousin Vinny would say), the song was released in 1974, the same year as another great bubblegum classic,
oh-oh-oh it’s “Magic” by Pilot (perhaps for another day!) – in both cases, cheery, infectious tunes suited to a pre-teen before the more mature melodies of the Stones, Rushes and Queens of the world would creep in.
As one listener on YouTube wrote of “Beach Baby”: “The first record I ever bought. As a 15-year-old from the northwest of England, this song made me think of sunshine, white sandy beaches, and pretty girls. This morning at work, as a 58-year-old, I heard this song on the radio and I was back in 1974 again. Loved it then, still love it now…”
Substitute North York, Ont., and I couldn’t have said it better.
Lyrics
Do you remember back in old L.A. (Wo-oh-oh)
When everybody drove a Chevrolet (Wo-oh-oh)
Whatever happened to the boy next door,
Suntanned, crewcut, all-American Male?
Remember dancing at the high school hop
The dress I ruined with the soda pop?
I barely recognized the girl next door
With beat up sneakers and a ponytail
Beach Baby, Beach Baby, give me your hand
Give me something that I can remember
Just like before, we can walk by the shore in the moonlight.
Beach Baby, Beach Baby, there on the sand
From July to the end of September
Surfin’ was fun, we’d be out in the sun every day.
Oooh. I never thought that it would end
Oooh. And I was everybody’s friend
Long hot days, Blue sea haze
Juke box plays, but now it’s fading away.
We couldn’t wait for graduation day
We took my car and drove to San Jose
That’s where you told me that you’d wear my ring
I guess you don’t remember anything!
Beach Baby, Beach Baby, give me your hand
Give me something that I can remember
Just like before, we can walk by the shore in the moonlight.